FROM CBD NEWS SOURCEDeKALB, Ill. – Head baseball coach Ed Mathey, entering his 11th season at Northern Illinois, announced the addition of two assistant coaches in Tom Carcione and Todd Coryell. Carcione returns to NIU (2007-08) after a stint as interim and Head Coach at Division II Metro State and as manager of the Ottawa Rapidz, while Coryell comes from Western Illinois and returns to the Mid-American Conference, having coached at Eastern Michigan under his father, Roger.

“I’m looking forward to having both of these guys on our staff,” said Mathey on the coaching staff additions. “I think they both are going to bring a lot of energy to our program and I think they are both going to do outstanding jobs for Northern Illinois baseball.

Carcione will be the Huskies hitting and catchers coach and Coryell will be charged with pitching and will serve as the recruiting coordinator in 2013.

No stranger to the Huskies, Carcione left the Huskies in the fall of 2008 to take a manager’s position with the Ottawa Rapidz, an independent team in the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball through the 2009 season. The club disbanded operations following that season. He went on to become the interim head coach at Metro State during 2009-10 school year and became the full-time head coach the following season.

In his two seasons at Metro State, Carcione led the Roadrunners to a 50-40 overall record and only just missed the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2011 as the team finished 29-17 overall, including a 25-14 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Outfielder David Fox was a consensus all-american under Carcione for the Roadrunners, earning honors from the American Baseball Coaches Assocition of America, Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America. In the classroom, the team had 10 players recognized on the RMAC’s All-Academic team.

He spent the 2008 season as an assistant at NIU, where he was he team’s hitting coach. That year, NIU combined for a .284 batting average, 327 runs and powered its way to 48 home runs. Under his tutelage, a pair of Huskie hitters earned All-Mid-American Conference selections in 2008. Justin Behm, a first-team honoree, hit .299 with 42 RBI and led the team with 11 homeruns while Jeff Thomas, a second-team selection, led the team with a .350 batting average to go with 10 doubles, a pair of homeruns and 34 RBI. Carcione also served a stint as the pitching coach with the Sioux City Explorers in 2006 and 2007 and prior to that was the Head Coach at Si Tanka in 2005 and an assistant at South Dakota from 2001-04.

As a player, Carcione was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 10th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft out Texas A&M, where he was a member of the Aggies NCAA Regional squad as a catcher. He began his collegiate career at Connors State and was invited to play for the Hyannis Mets of the famed Cape Code League in the summer of 1987.

After being drafted, he played nine seasons professionally through the minor leagues and reached the Double-A level in 1990, playing for the Huntsville Stars for three seasons.

“Tom is a guy we are familiar with, having coached here in 2007 and 2008, and part of 2009, before leaving to become a manager at the professional level and then he went down to Metro State to become a Division II Head coach,” added Mathey. “He’s a baseball man through-and-through and we’re very happy to have him back in the fold and looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do with our hitters and our approach with the guys that we have.”

Coryell comes to Northern Illinois after two seasons at Western Illinois, serving as the team’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He will serve in the same capacity with the Huskies.

In his time in Macomb, Coryell guided a revamped pitching staff that collected 18 victories in 2011 between the Leathernecks starting rotation, including a combined 19 quality starts by Dan Russell, Zach Sterling, Ryan Wachholder and Alexander Zarate. The pitching staff carried an ERA of 5.03 that season, over three runs fewer than the previous. Opponents batted .283, over 50 points fewer than 2010. As the pitching coach at Western Illinois, Coryell cut the ERA in half from over 10 in 2009.

Prior to WIU, Coryell worked as a scout for the Cincinnati Reds organization for two seasons while also serving as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Grand Rapids Community College. He also was also an assistant at Kellogg Community College in 2008 and helped guide the Bruins to the Junior College World Series.

He started his coaching career at Eastern Michigan under his father, EMU Hall of Fame coach Roger Coryell. He first served as a student assistant and then became the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. While there, Todd coached 2004 and 2006 Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Ryan Ford and Jeff Fisher, respectively, as well as the MAC Player of the Year Brian Bixler in 2004. The Eagles won the MAC Regular Season Championship and was the MAC Tournament Runner-Up in 2007.

All told, Coryell has produced 20 players who have gone on to sign with Major League Baseball affiliated teams, including 12 MLB Amateur Draft selections in his time as a coach, including Bixler (second round), Fischer (10th round) and Ford (15th round).

He started his career as a scout for the Seattle Mariners organization in 2003.

“He’s a guy who’s been around this game a long time. I coached against his dad and know him very well. I can you tell you this, his teams were always prepared, always pitched the ball very well. He’s very familiar with Mid-American Conference baseball, which will provide our guys with some insight about that. His recruiting database is great, he has some territories that he’s recruited from in the past that will be relatively new territories for us which is really exciting.”

The new-look Huskies will begin their annual Red-Black Series Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.

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